Liberals name candidate for Calgary Midnapore

The Liberals have chosen their candidate for the Calgary Midnapore byelection, which has to be called by March 22.

On Monday, the Liberals announced that Haley Brown will attempt to win the seat left vacant after Jason Kenney quit federal politics in September to run for the Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership.

Brown lost to Kenney by over 28,000 votes in the new riding during the 2015 election.

Brown has a bachelor of arts degree in communication and culture, and almost two decades of business experience, according to her website.

Stephanie Kusie is running for the Conservatives, who likely will hold onto the riding easily.

Kusie has been working since May 2014 as the executive director of Common Sense Calgary, an advocacy group dedicated to lower taxes and responsible spending at City Hall.

She ran municipally in Calgary in 2013, but lost Ward 12 to Shane Keating. Previously she worked for the federal government as a foreign service officer for over a decade, according to her LinkedIn profile, with postings in Dallas, Texas and El Salvador.

The NDP also have a candidate in Calgary Midnapore. Holly Heffernan — who has been involved in politics for over a decade, including a provincial run for the NDP in 2004 — is taking another shot. Heffernan also ran federally in 2006, 2008 and 2011 against Stephen Harper in Calgary Southwest before it was redistributed into Calgary Midnapore and Calgary Heritage.

A byelection also will have to be called in Calgary Heritage, Harper’s old riding, by February 25. The Conservative party chose Bob Benzen as their candidate last October.

According to his website, Benzen has lived in Calgary Heritage for almost 30 years and is an “entrepreneur and small businessman” with a company that “specializes in data storage and information management for energy companies.”

Khalis Ahmed, a geologist, was nominated as the NDP candidate on January 15.

Ahmed ran in Calgary Signal Hill in the 2015 federal election, finishing a very distant third. According to his website, he has worked with oil and gas companies for more than 20 years.

The Liberal party has yet to choose candidate for Calgary Heritage. However, there have been reports of politicians eyeing the seat. Brendan Miles, for example, ran in the last federal election and told Metro News in September that he had requested nomination papers.

In December, former longtime Conservative MP Lee Richardson also made headlines when he said he was thinking of running in Calgary Heritage for the Liberals.